# Leslie Charleson

Leslie Ann Charleson (February 22, 1945 – January 12, 2025) was an American actress, best known for her role as Monica Quartermaine on the ABC daytime soap opera General Hospital.

## Life and career

Charleson was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on February 22, 1945. Actress Kate Charleson was her sister. Her career began on short-lived ABC daytime soap opera A Flame in the Wind in 1964. In 1966 she joined the cast of As the World Turns. In 1968, she played the role of a doctor's daughter in The Wild Wild West in the episode "The Night of Fire and Brimstone". From 1967 to 1970, she starred on the CBS soap opera Love Is a Many Splendored Thing. She played the role of Iris Donnelly Garrison. Her character was a part of a highly popular love triangle with David Birney and Donna Mills.
Charleson guest-starred on many series from 1970 to 1977, including Adam-12; Emergency!; Ironside; Mannix; Marcus Welby, M.D.; Happy Days; Cannon; The Streets of San Francisco; and The Rockford Files. She had a supporting role in the 1973 science-fiction film The Day of the Dolphin and co-starred opposite Shelley Winters in the television thriller Revenge! (1971). Charleson also had leading roles in a number of unsuccessful television pilots, most notable 1975 sitcom pilot Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.
On August 16, 1977, Charleson returned to daytime television with the role of Monica Quartermaine in the ABC soap opera General Hospital. Fred Silverman, then president of ABC, asked her to join the series, which at that time was near the bottom of the ratings and near cancellation.$^{:117}$ For her role, Charleson received four Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series nominations: in 1980, 1982, 1983 and 1995. During her General Hospital years, Charleson starred alongside Deidre Hall and Colleen Zenk in the 1993 made-for-television movie Woman on the Ledge. She also guest-starred on sitcoms Dharma & Greg in 2001 and Friends in 2004. On August 24, 2010, it was announced that Charleson was being demoted to recurring status. Charleson was the longest-serving cast member of General Hospital.

### Death

Charleson died in Los Angeles on January 12, 2025, at the age of 79. According to Variety, she had experienced "several falls", which caused problems with her mobility, and had been hospitalized from one of them the week before her death. Her death certificate, publicly reported in February 2025, concluded that the immediate cause of death was sequelae of blunt head trauma, which was the result of a previous head injury.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1968 | A Lovely Way to Die | Julie | Uncredited |
| 1973 | The Day of the Dolphin | Maryanne | |
| 1977 | Cheering Section | Locker Girl #2 | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1964 | A Flame in the Wind | Pam | Recurring role |
| 1966 | As the World Turns | Alice Whipple | Series regular |
| 1967 | N.Y.P.D. | Ginger | Episode: "Cruise to Oblivion" |
| 1968 | The Wild Wild West | Dooley Sloan | Episode: "The Night of Fire and Brimstone" |
| 1967–1970 | Love Is a Many Splendored Thing | Iris Donnelly Garrison | Series regular |
| 1970 | Mannix | Marge Lavor | Season 3-Episode 16: "A Chance at the Roses" |
| 1971 | Revenge! | Nancy Grover | Television film (ABC) |
| 1972 | Adam-12 | Kathy Royal | Episode: "The Princess and the Pig" |
| 1972 | O'Hara, U.S. Treasury | Helga Kuyper | Episode: "Operation: Deathwatch" |
| 1972 | Marcus Welby, M.D. | Lisa Kenny | Episode: "Just a Little Courage" |
| 1972 | Search | Nancy Kubica | Episode: "Live Men Tell Tales" |
| 1972 | The Rookies | Anne Dawson | Episode: "The Good Die Young" |
| 1972 | Emergency! | Christy Todd | Episode: "Women" |
| 1972 | Cannon | Katherine 'Kate' Machen | Episode: "Sky Above, Death Below" |
| 1972 | Medical Center | Patti | Episode: "Gladiator" |
| 1973 | Ironside | Nicky Jameson | Episode: "A Special Person" |
| 1973 | The F.B.I. | Ginny Wyatt | Episode: "The Loper Gambit" |
| 1973 | Marcus Welby, M.D. | Alice Henley | Episode: "The Circles of Shame" |
| 1973 | Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law | Edie Nolan | Episode: "They've Got to Blame Somebody" |
| 1974 | Another April | April Weston Moss | Television pilot |
| 1974 | Cannon | Joan Stevens | Episode: "The Sounds of Silence" |
| 1974 | The Streets of San Francisco | Joanna Randolph Reed | Episode: "Death and the Favored Few" |
| 1975 | Kung Fu | Amy Starbuck | Episode: "One Step to Darkness" |
| 1975 | Happy Days | Mrs. Dorothy Kimber | Episode: "Get a Job" |
| 1975 | Caribe | Claire Grune | Episode: "Murder in Paradise" |
| 1975 | Guess Who's Coming to Dinner | Joanna Prentiss | Television pilot |
| 1975 | Medical Story | Susan Stewart | Episode: "The God Syndrome" |
| 1975 | Cannon | Susan Baylor | Episode: "The Man Who Died Twice" |
| 1975 | Barnaby Jones | Victoria Norris | Episode: "Honeymoon with Death" |
| 1976 | The Streets of San Francisco | Donna Sinclair | Episode: "Underground" |
| 1976 | Most Wanted | Lee Herrick | Television pilot |
| 1976 | Bert D'Angelo/Superstar | | Episode: "A Concerned Citizen" |
| 1976 | Baa Baa Black Sheep | Captain Anne Schaeffer | Episode: "Love and War" |
| 1977 | McMillan & Wife | Ginny Lindauer | Episode: "Coffee, Tea, or Cyanide?" |
| 1977 | The Rockford Files | Patsy Fossler | Episodes: "To Protect and Serve: Part 1" and "To Protect and Serve: Part 2" |
| 1977–2023 | General Hospital | Monica Quartermaine | Series regular (1977–2010), recurring cast (2010–2023) Nominated — Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series (1980, 1982–83, 1995) Nominated — Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Daytime Drama (1986, 1988, 1990) Nominated — Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress (1993) |
| 1993 | Woman on the Ledge | Rachel | Television film (NBC) |
| 1997 | Diagnosis: Murder | Herself | Episode: "Physician, Murder Thyself" |
| 1997–2000 | Port Charles | Monica Quartermaine | Recurring role |
| 2001 | Dharma & Greg | Katherine | Episode: "Dharma Does Dallas" |
| 2004 | Friends | Herself | Episode: "The One Where the Stripper Cries" |
| 2006 | The Return of the Muskrats | Waitress | Short film |
| 2008 | General Hospital: Night Shift | Monica Quartermaine | Episodes: "Truth and Consequences" and "Past and Presence: Part 2" |